Cedar Rapids or Mount Vernon (Iowa City, Dubuque: affordable houses, new construction, contractors)

[griz134]

Where would you rather live given the choice between CR or Mount Vernon and why. I'm playing around with the idea of moving back to Iowa. I grew up in Bettendorf and have been away since 1984. Just trying to weigh all my options before I move this summer.

[jmgg]

Originally Posted by griz134

Where would you rather live given the choice between CR or Mount Vernon and why. I'm playing around with the idea of moving back to Iowa. I grew up in Bettendorf and have been away since 1984. Just trying to weigh all my options before I move this summer.

Mt. Vernon without a blink. It's one of the prettiest towns in the state and located close to Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, the Quad Cities, and Dubuque.

It's a smaller community where you have the chance to actually blend into it and get to know more people. Even though it's fairly small, it has a small liberal arts college there (Cornell) giving you more things to do than most other smaller communities.

The only thing that stands out to me about Cedar Rapids is it's close to Iowa City and has a Minnesota Twins Class A Minor League team. The fact that the Twins have a team there baffles me since it's Chicago Cubs territory and CR is not a very large city. OK, I'm jealous. This team should be in Sioux Falls which IS Twins territory and a much bigger city.

[mustang84]

Cedar Rapids. Mt. Vernon is a nice town, but taxes are much higher and there is less to do than Cedar Rapids. Cedar Rapids has a variety of housing options, a low cost-of-living, and there is always something going on in NewBo, Czech Village, or Downtown. I guess it depends ultimately whether you prefer the smaller town lifestyle or a larger city, and whether you are ok with a 20 minute commute from Mt. Vernon.

[smpliving]

Even though Mt Vernon has a college, it’s a very family-oriented town with a lot of new construction of family homes, and the smaller communities surrounding the area are more insular from my experience. I’d stick with Cedar Rapids for reasons stated in the above posts.

[griz134]

Thanks for the information. There are pros and cons to everything.

[cpat]

In my 6 years in this filthy town, I have witnessed sleazy landlords, crooked contractors, and a city that can't even fill a pothole in the streets. Thank God the potholes are filled with snow in the winter.

When I bitched to the governors office about the contractors I was told "we have no control over what a business does or does not do".

I have lived in 8 other states and worked in 7 more, any of which would be an improvement over this charade of state and local government.

[Dewey59]

Originally Posted by jmgg

The only thing that stands out to me about Cedar Rapids is it's close to Iowa City and has a Minnesota Twins Class A Minor League team. The fact that the Twins have a team there baffles me since it's Chicago Cubs territory and CR is not a very large city. OK, I'm jealous. This team should be in Sioux Falls which IS Twins territory and a much bigger city.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels major league affiliation has changed many times over the years. Prior to the Twins, they were affiliated with the Angels for nearly 20 years. They even were affiliated with the Cubs back in the 50's! It really has nothing to do with location and more to do with money.

Sioux Falls is actually a little smaller than Cedar Rapids, but it is growing faster than CR, so may surpass it soon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...tistical_areas

[smpliving]

Originally Posted by cpat

In my 6 years in this filthy town, I have witnessed sleazy landlords, crooked contractors, and a city that can't even fill a pothole in the streets. Thank God the potholes are filled with snow in the winter.

When I bitched to the governors office about the contractors I was told "we have no control over what a business does or does not do".

I have lived in 8 other states and worked in 7 more, any of which would be an improvement over this charade of state and local government.

I would not call Cedar Rapids a dump by any means. There are some areas that are depressed but there are many more nice areas to live throughout the metro from low-end to higher-end homes. As far as potholes, the city has done EXTENSIVE work on the roads throughout the city the last 3-5 years and it’s much improved. I have always owned a home except for the first 6 months when we moved to CR 25 years ago from out of state, so I don’t have much experience with landlords.

[griz134]

CR has much more affordable houses than MT Vernon. That could be a factor in my decision.

[wingit]

Just wondering OP, if you grew up in Bettendorf, why don't you want to move back there?